His talk of the Übermensch (“Overman”) or the “Will to Power” will make many of us balk. There is no doubt that Nietzsche can make for hard reading. Wasn’t Nietzsche a Nazi? Doesn’t he encourage cruelty and oppression? As is often the case, the truth is much more complicated. It is difficult to talk about Nietzsche without a disreputable specter or scandal lurking in the background. It is probably fair to say that Nietzsche offers little in terms of a coherent “system,” like a Descartes or Kant, but it is also true that this was likely never his intention. Many folks, from angsty students to retired professors, can find something empowering in his writing. His various aphorisms like, “God is dead,” and, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” have entered common usage. It is hard to read his work and not feel something - be it revulsion at his iconoclasm or exhilaration at his rhetoric. Of all the world-famous philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is the one who probably evokes the strongest reaction. If we were to examine every person who ever called themselves a philosopher, of course we will find greater controversy amongst the racists, fascists, and hate-mongers of the world.) (Note: I am treating only well-known and well-read philosophers, here. And in this, it is pretty hard to beat Friedrich Nietzsche. So, if we are to judge the controversy of a philosopher, we ought to do so when they are doing philosophy. We separate their philosophy from their lives.
Whenever you feel like you need an existential kick in the butt, give these a read.And yet, their ideas are still read and enjoyed the world over. He wants you to live dangerously and shake off the fetters of weakness and mediocrity to reach further and higher.īelow we share a collection of some of Nietzsche’s most inspiring, incisive, and insightful aphorisms. You can feel Nietzsche grabbing you by the shirt collar and slapping you awake as you read his axioms. He doesn’t want people to simply sleepwalk through life.
Indeed, many of Nietzsche’s aphorisms are designed to jostle the individual out of existential complacency. Many of Nietzsche’s other aphorisms have been adopted by artists looking to inspire themselves to reach for bigger and bolder visions, which was part of his intent while the philosopher’s work has often been interpreted in a societal and political context, his themes on the will to power and waging war are frequently meant as metaphors for creative and intellectual struggle. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” has been used by football coaches to motivate players during grueling summer workouts and by Kanye West in one of his biggest hits. Many of Nietzsche’s aphorisms have become standard sayings in popular culture. Friedrich Nietzsche liked the aphorism because its meaning wasn’t one-dimensional, but could encompass layers of irony, sarcasm, and nuance which reward the reader who goes beyond the surface to contemplate deeper meanings. The pithiness of his aphorisms shouldn’t be mistaken for simplicity, however. The punchy format of aphorisms fit the terse, strength-focused ethos of Nietzsche’s philosophy perfectly, and he explicitly said his “ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.”
It can be easier to grasp Nietzsche’s big ideas by studying his aphorisms - succinct yet insightful statements - which he intentionally penned at times (some of his works contain sections devoted to just such sayings). Friedrich Nietzsche is one of history’s most misinterpreted philosophers, and it isn’t hard to understand why his lengthy writings are sometimes obscure and it isn’t always clear what he’s getting at.
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